Trustees of the Australian Conference of Leaders of
Religious Institutes (ABN 92 291 126 804)

Incorporated in New South Wales.The Liability of the members is limited

MEDIA RELEASE-
for release Tuesday 29 October 2002

Grant Residency to East
Timorese in Australia

The leaders of Australia's
religious congregations support the humanitarian plea made today by the
President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Francis
Carroll, urging the Minister for Immigration to exercise his discretionary
powers and grant permanent residency to 1800 East Timorese Asylum Seekers who
have been in Australia for at least eight years.

In his letter to the Hon
Philip Ruddock MP, Archbishop Carroll states how the East Timorese group
arrived in Australia from 1992 onwards, at a time when East Timor was rent by
violence and intimidation.

"Since that time they
have lived in uncertainty, waiting for a decision (on their refugee status).
They now fear deportation", writes the Archbishop, who proposes a special
visa category be formed that would allow East Timorese in Australia the right
of permanent residence "if they so desire."

Reasons cited by Archbishop
Carroll for allowing the group to remain in Australia include their integration
in the Australian community, where they have worked hard to support themselves
and start a new life; their contributions as peaceful, faithful and law-abiding
people; their Australian- educated children, many of whom have started their
own families and acquired work in fields that do not exist in East Timor; and
the continuing impoverishment of East Timor and its people.

ACLRI Executive Director, Sr
Mary Cresp rsj, speaking on behalf of Catholic and Anglican religious
congregations, reiterated the strong bonds that had been forged between the
expatriate East Timorese and Australia's religious communities. "We
religious women and men admire their courage and their contributions to local
church and community life," she said.

"The resilience, faith
and optimism the expatriates have shown since the 1975 invasion of their
country is matched only by their patience in submitting and resubmitting their
applications for Australian residency. We pray that the anxieties they feel
today may be removed by the federal government's granting them permanent
residency status."